It started the minute Halloween was over -- magically, mysteriously, instantaneously -- the holiday decorations popped up in stores. The ads on TV are all about what you need this holiday - everything from canned food to cars. The toys catalogs are being promoted as the ultimate reading material for kids - we wouldn’t want to miss out on the “must-have” stuff of the season. It’s no wonder most kids are suffering from a bad case of the “gimmes”! Just the other day, after finis

I always feel a little melancholic when September comes around. It signals changes - summer turning into fall, the end of days spent at the beach, a certain loss of freedom. September is a time for transition and transitions can be difficult. But, then again, we've been through a lot of transitions in 2020. Nothing is quite the same. As I troll through Facebook, the lack of the first day of school pictures is glaring - I miss the captured moments -students looking fresh, brig

It's been a while that we've been cooped up with our families. And, if absence makes the heart grow fonder, is the opposite also true?

How ready are you? You've been through the supply list -twice. New clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, locker accessories, and various other accoutrements have been purchased, packed, and are ready to go. You are all set! Or are you? Good-bye Summer Maybe it's because I taught for so long, or maybe it's because I never really grew up but the start of August is almost always a little bittersweet. There's still a whole month of summer left (in NYC, school starts the day aft

#education #raisingkids #problems #confidenceresiilienceyproblemsolving

Today was back to school for most students in NYC. As I troll through Facebook (after being away from it for a week), I smile at all the first day of school pictures - students looking fresh, bright-eyed, and bushy tailed with happy faces (mostly) holding signs that say "the first day of (insert appropriate grade)." There are many memes of happy parents doing their happy dances, others sending their babies off with tissues in hand with a small amount of regret and a big dose

How to help your kids feel safe in a scary world. We were reminded, once again, of our mortality and the frailty of human life. I don't know about you, but the mass shooting in Las Vegas shook me to my very core. I look for reasons, for someone to blame. And then, one of my 8 year-old clients decided to have a discussion with me about it. I realized he was trying to figure out this world we live in and was looking to me for wisdom and advice. (expletive deletive!!!) So, I ha

Good citizens all over this fair city (New York) have been setting up and planting green spaces to make life more beautiful. I, being born and raised in this concrete jungle, don't actually have an affection for gardening - but I can appreciate the time and effort it entails, and the beauty that stems from that time and effort. This spring, a woman in my building, decided to beautify two of those spaces - one surrounding a tree, and the other a little fenced in area next to t